High school
students receive hands-on experience in immunology research

By MICHELLE BRANDT

Recent high school graduate Maggie Curnutte
knows her passion for science isn't shared by everyone. “My lab partner in
A.P. Biology always laughed at the way I got excited about things in
class,” said Curnutte, who attended Notre Dame High School in Belmont.
“When we dissected a fetal pig in class, she was the one to read the
textbook and I was the one to anxiously explore.”

This summer, Curnette finds herself
surrounded by a group of teenagers who share her love of scientific
exploration. She is one of 20 participants in a high school internship
program sponsored by the Center for Clinical Immunology at Stanford, or
CCIS – an interdisciplinary research program involving 70 faculty members.
The internship program was the brainchild of Garry Fathman, MD, professor
of medicine and director of CCIS, and Alan Krensky, MD, professor of
pediatrics. The program is designed to expose science-minded high school
juniors and seniors to the world of medical research.

“We wanted to show the excitement of clinical
immunology laboratory work and provide the students with the opportunity
to work at a world-class medical center,” said Fathman, who brought the
first group of interns to CCIS last summer. He and P.J. Utz, MD, assistant
professor of medi-cine and director of the program, sought out students
who excelled in science and would thrive in the highly charged lab
environment; they selected this year's participants from a pool of nearly
70 applicants.

(Left to right) Emily Adams and Maggie Curnette
are among the 20 local high school students who are gaining research
experience through a summer program at the Center for Clinical Immunology
at Stanford. photo: VAS

The eight-week program, which began June 18,
is intensive and hands-on; the itinerary features lab training, lab work,
immunology mini-courses, lectures from CCIS faculty members and field
trips throughout the medical center. Each student is assigned to a
specific lab within CCIS and works alongside a postdoctoral fellow or
immunology graduate student on a specific project. The interns don't
receive grades for their work, but they will hold a poster session for
family, friends and faculty at the end of the program.

The students are working on a wide array of
projects, reflecting the broad range of research areas that fall under the
clinical immunology umbrella. Curnutte and Emily Adams, a senior at
Castilleja School in Palo Alto, wound up in the lab of David Lewis, MD,
associate professor of pediatrics. The two students are studying
cytomegalovirus (CMV), a member of the herpes family that can be
transferred from mother to child during pregnancy or birth. Curnutte is
using a test called the ELI-spot assay to measure the number of T cells –
immune system cells that attack foreign invaders – activated by a specific
peptide of the CMV. Depending on the T cells' reaction, this peptide could
eventually be used to make a vaccine for CMV.

Intern Derek Fong is working jointly in the
labs of Utz and Larry Steinman, MD, professor of neurology and
neurological sciences. Fong, a recent graduate of Mountain View High
School, is studying autoimmune diseases – such as rheumatoid arthritis,
lupus, and multiple sclerosis – and constructing protein microarrays that
enable researchers to simultaneously monitor thousands of proteins. Fong
uses a special robot to print the arrays and helps analyze the data with a
scanner and computer. The lab's research could eventually be used to
design patient-specific therapies for the treatment of arthritis and MS.

Fong participated in last year's program and
enjoyed his experience so much that he continued working during the school
year and then returned for the program this summer. His contributions to
the lab are reflected in a high-profile paper in which Fong is listed as a
co-author. Utz said serving as an author of a scientific paper is an
amazing accomplishment for a high-school student, and it exemplifies the
students' progression throughout the program.

“The students go from not knowing how to hold
a pipette to conducting fairly complex experiments on their own,” said
Utz, adding that the most rewarding part of the program is seeing the
students learn so quickly. “It's gratifying to see their eyes light up
when they get something.”

The students are eager to make contributions
to their labs. “At first you come in and don't know much; you almost feel
like dead weight,” said Curnette, who will attend Pomona College this
fall. “But my goal before I leave is to provide more help and make things
in my lab run more efficiently.”

Utz hopes Curnutte and the other interns will
continue making contributions to their labs and return to CCIS – in some
capacity – as Fong and several other former interns have. He also hopes
the program will succeed in making a positive impact on the students'
educational and career choices. “The proof will be in the pudding,” said
Utz, who pursued a career in immunology as a result of attending a similar
program as a college student. “Five to 10 years from now we'll see how
many of our students have gone on to medical school or have worked in
research labs in college.”

The internship program is co-sponsored by the
Northern California Arthritis Foundation, which is funding five George
Hagan Summer Science Fellows. More information about this and other CCIS
programs can be found at http://ccis.stanford.edu.